1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a stamp material suitable for obtaining a seal, a stamp or the like, which has a desired stamp image with ease, a stamp material-setting jig for setting the stamp material in a stamp-making apparatus, and a stamp assembly made of the stamp material.
2. Prior Art
Conventionally, a stamp material of the above-mentioned kind has been proposed e.g. by Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 6-278350, which is comprised of a stamp portion having a stamp surface-forming portion and a stock to which the stamp portion is attached. The stamp portion is a laminate of an ultraviolet-curing resin layer as the stamp surface-forming portion, a base layer for holding the ultraviolet-curing resin layer, and a sponge layer for holding the base layer. The stamp material constructed as above is set in a stamp-making apparatus and exposed to ultraviolet rays via a mask of an ink ribbon printed with desired stamp characters to have the stamp characters formed in the ultraviolet-curing resin layer.
As to a stamp material-setting jig, no particular proposal has been made.
In the above-mentioned stamp material, the stamp portion is fixed to the stock, so that when a stamp (or stamp material) formed with its stamp characters becomes useless, or when an erroneous stamp character is formed in the stamp surface-forming portion, not only the stamp portion but also the stock is disposed of. That is, when part of the material (stamp) becomes useless, the whole material (stamp) has to be disposed of, which goes against saving of energy and resources.
Further, when the stamp material is set in a stamp-making apparatus, the former is required to be accurately positioned in the latter. However, if various types of stamp materials different in size are provided for the stamp-making apparatus similarly to usual stamps, it becomes physically or mechanically very difficult to accurately set each of such different stamp materials in the same stamp-making apparatus by the use of common positioning means. Particularly, small-sized stamp materials are difficult to form the positioning means therein, and hence it is difficult to accurately set each of them in the stamp-making apparatus in a stable manner.